Gregory Macalister MathewsCBEFRSE FZS FLS (10 September 1876 – 27 March 1949) was anAustralian-born amateurornithologist who spent most of his later life inEngland.
He was born inBiamble inNew South Wales the son of Robert H. Mathews. He was educated atThe King's School, Parramatta.
Mathews made his fortune inmining shares and moved toEngland in 1902. In 1910, he was elected a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers wereWilliam Eagle Clarke,Ramsay Heatley Traquair,John Alexander Harvie-Brown andWilliam Evans.[1]
Mathews was a controversial figure in Australian ornithology. He was responsible for bringingtrinomial nomenclature into local taxonomy, however he was regarded as an extreme splitter. He recognised large numbers of subspecies on scant evidence and few notes.[2] The extinctLord Howe Pigeon was described by Mathews in 1915, using a painting as a guide.[3] At the time, he named itRaperia godmanae afterAlice Mary Godman.[4]
His approach drew a hostile response fromArchibald James Campbell, a leading Australian figure in ornithology at the time. He later began splitting genera.Dominic Serventy foretold that although a great many of these subspecies ceased to be recognised, future research would have to resort to the use of some of them if and when evidence supported their distinct status.[2]
He was Chairman of theBritish Ornithologists' Club from 1935 to 1938.[5] He was made CBE in 1939 for his services to ornithology.[6]
Mathews describedMalurus splendens musgravei, currently recognised as a subspecies of thesplendid fairywren, in 1922, as a new species of bird.[7]
In 1939, he was elected aFellow of theRoyal Australasian Ornithologists Union and served as its president from 1946–1947. Mathews built up a collection of 30,000 bird skins and a library of 5,000 books on ornithology.[8] He donated his ornithological library to theNational Library of Australia in 1939.[6]
In 1939, Matthews donated a small collection ofAboriginal ethnographic items from Australia to theBritish Museum.[9]
He married Mrs Marian Wynne, a widow. He died inWinchester on 27 March 1949.[2]
Mathews contributed numerous papers to the ornithological literature, especially on aviantaxonomy andnomenclature, as well as founding, funding, editing and being the principal contributor to thejournalThe Austral Avian Record. Monographic or book-length works authored or coauthored by him include:
